Global Health Progress

By Joelle Tanguy, Senior Vice President for Global Programs & Partnerships Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Malaria kills nearly a million people annually. Every 30 seconds, an African child dies as a result of malaria infection. With 350 to 500 million illnesses and more than one million deaths annually, it’s a disease that wreaks havoc on families and communities and devastates national economies. In short, it is one of the greatest threats to global health and economic welfare.

It also happens to be a disease that is particularly easy and inexpensive to prevent. The bad news is that we let it spiral this far out of control in the first place. The good news is that we know how to diagnose and treat the disease – and we know how to prevent people from acquiring it in the first place.

The issue is one of resources, and logistics. And business action, with its unique blend of innovation and creativity, is stepping up as a critical pillar in the worldwide fight.

By working in concert with public health agencies and civil society, the private sector is poised to broaden the reach and effectiveness of these critical malaria interventions and defeat this deadly global epidemic once and for all.

A recent study completed on behalf of the Roll Back Malaria partnership by Malaria No more and McKinsey and Company, a member of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, in fact, presents a compelling business case for rapid scale-up of malaria control programs in Africa.

According to the McKinsey report, if business were to invest approximately $10.9 billion over 5 years, we’d be able to achieve full coverage of prevention and treatment measures in the most affected African countries. The McKinsey report indicates that a “rapid scale-up” approach will save millions of lives, prevent hundreds of thousands of cases and generate increased much-needed economic productivity in highly impoverished regions.

It’s therefore critical to develop collaborative efforts that deliver integrated responses to the disease, including treatment, prevention through the distribution and proper use of long lasting, insecticide-treated bed nets, and vector control spraying. To that end, GBC is serving as the host and coordinator of the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA), which aims to gather the best practices and expand business engagement to improve the impact of malaria control efforts in sub-Saharan Africa.

CAMA’s founding member companies—many of whom already implement or finance leading-edge malaria initiatives—are Marathon Oil Corporation, Bayer Environmental Science, Global Industries, Cameron International, Coca Cola Africa, Chevron, EDG Engineers, Halliburton, Hess, Noble Energy, Wood Group and WorleyParsons.

It’s also critical to link local resources to global efforts. An outstanding example is “Idol Gives Back,” the special episode of the smash TV hit American Idol devoted to improving the health of children around the world, and ending malaria. American Idol reached into the living rooms of millions of viewers and solicited their contributions to benefit six charities, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and Malaria No More. Last year, the event raised more than $76 million, including $9 million for Malaria No More and more than $8 million for other malaria-related causes.

Several GBC members, including News Corporation and ExxonMobil, were key sponsors of the event. ExxonMobil donated $10 million to the fight against malaria in Africa. Other GBC sponsors of the star-studded night were Coca-Cola, M•A•C AIDS Fund and McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Each of these companies have shown leadership off-stage too, often using their core competencies in the fight against the disease: vouchers for bed nets in service stations, cause-related marketing in beauty retail stores, and consulting services to aid groups and donor agencies.

The biotech and pharmaceutical sectors can commit to new research and development into new diagnostic tools, malaria treatment regimens and vaccines – areas which still suffer from underinvestment owing to the fact that at the end of the day, malaria is a disease of the poor. Companies in the shipping industry with significant logistics infrastructure can offer invaluable guidance in the speedy and efficient delivery of bed nets. Garment manufacturers, as well as their partners in the supply chain, can provide malaria health coverage for their employees and their dependents.

Pharmaceutical companies already play a major role. In collaboration with the African Medical and Research Foundation and the Uganda Health Ministry, AstraZeneca is improving the delivery of critical healthcare services and the performance of health information management systems throughout Uganda, among other vital initiatives in which it is engaged. And Novartis, which produces an artemisinin-based, fixed-dose anti-malarial medication with cure rates approaching 95%, collaborates with the World Health Organization and the Global Fund to provide the medication to endemic countries, and since 2001 has provided more than 160 million treatments without profit to those most in need. It has now announced a further 20% average price reduction in the drug, further expanding access to at-risk populations in endemic regions of the world.

And there is more good news: earlier this year, Chevron announced a three-year $30 million donation to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the largest single donation in company history and the largest single donation to the Fund by a company. This record breaking announcement further underlined the growing role of the private sector in the battle against the pandemics of our times.

By weaving together meaningful business actions that capture the core competencies, skills, creativity and resources of all players – whether from the private sector, philanthropic organizations, governments or civil society – we can and will deliver on our ability to thwart this exceedingly preventable scourge.

About GBC
The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) is a coalition of more than 220 companies united to keep the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria a global priority. The Coalition’s members share learnings from the front lines of the fight, and GBC provides tailored support so that companies can take an active role in defeating the pandemics. GBC also organizes collective actions among companies, and links the public and private sectors in ways that pool talents and resources. The official focal point of the private sector delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GBC maintains offices in New York, Paris, Johannesburg, Beijing, Geneva, Nairobi, Moscow, and Kyiv.

For more information about business action against malaria, visit: http://www.gbcimpact.org/live/media/feature/malaria/